AMORPHOPHALLUS BORNEENSIS
Photo by Alan Galloway
SYNONYMS:
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS: Hydrosme borneensis Engl. in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 15: 458 (1892)
HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS: Amorphophallus borneensis var. winkleri Engl. in Pflanzenr., IV, 23C: 79 (1911)
ACCEPTED INFRASPECIFICS: N/A
DISTRIBUTION: Indonesia | Borneo | South Kalimantan
CLIMATE: N/A
ECOLOGY:
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Tuber subglobose, ca. 20 cm in diam., dark brown, no offset development. Leaf solitary; petiole to ca. 2 m high, largely smooth, slightly rugulose at the base, purplish or blackish green, with large, oval or rounded, whitish, blackish green-centered, confluent spots and numerous small, whitish and brownish purplish dots, the margins of the larger spots at the base of the peduncle slightly raised, lichen-like.
INFLORESCENCE:
Inflorescence solitary, long-peduncled; peduncle ca. 70–110 cm long (or more?), ca. 4 cm in diam. (base); spathe ovate, 40–43 cm long, ca. 25–35 cm in diam., subacute, limb with one large longitudinal fold, margin with a few large sinuses, margin rolled inwards, base outside dull green with a greyish hue and with scattered small and larger pale green rounded spots with or without a darker green center, and small, punctiform, blackish green spots, inside maroon, upwards pale green or whitish with a pale brownish violet hue, limb outside dull dirty reddish brown or dark brown, with small pale or blackish spots and paler main veins, these raised, inside glossy dirty dark brown or dark reddish brown. Spadix sessile, 50–67 cm long, longer than spathe.
VARIEGATED FORMS: N/A
ETYMOLOGY: The species epithet refers to its locality, Borneo.
NOTES: Amorphophallus borneensis certainly ranks among the larger species. The mottling of the petiole and peduncle is of great beauty and resembles the complex patterns of lichen on a stem.
CULTIVARS: N/A
HYBRIDS: N/A
REFERENCES:
Additional photos and videos by Wilbert Hetterscheid, Steve Jackson, Tina Asher, Matt Coulter and Javaniska Elflora
